Life Unscripted- My life in boxes.

I have not blogged in a while for various reasons. I still have some unidentified health issues going on that at times dictate how I feel from a day to day basis.  A couple of weeks ago we began an experience with our very first eviction. Not exactly what I was looking forward to dealing with as Thanksgiving was approaching along side my 35th birthday.  The moving team consisted of me, my best friend, and four children. There was a brief day of assistance from my husband and a friend and we got to make two trips with a pick up truck. It was completed in a week using our Honda minivan and her Mazda car that seats six. 

Now I know sharing this is deeply personal, but one of the things I do is try to keep it real in my little piece of cyber space.

So we lost our rental home, we have dealt with some various health issues, and each time we tried to find a place it felt like something happened and the door was closed.  Through this process though, we have had tremendous support even from people we have never met.  We weren't sure where we would go, we were even given an out of state option.  In the end, I know many have prayed for us, and some very special people have gifted, loved, supported, talked me through, and physically helped us move.  I can't thank each of you enough.

I can say that our final day of moving was this past Wednesday. We have not yet decided to leave the state of Florida.  We are currently living where we began almost two years ago when we moved back to Florida.  We are once again the crazy eight as my best friend and her family have taken us in.  In addition they have two dogs, we have one dog, three cats, and two lizards.  The only one of us that could not come was our precious Ms. Piggy.

We were able to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal and this morning my 35th birthday began.  I have alot to be thankful for.  The eviction process is embarrassing, and I don't exactly understand all that is entailed in it.  I know we will eventually have to pay the money we owe, why my landlord stopped accepting the payment arrangement we had, he never would say. 

Currently alot of the material part of our lives is packed up in boxes, waiting in storage.  Not where I thought I would be at 35, but I am still counting my blessings, all is not lost (though there have been moments I thought it was). I hope each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and no matter the circumstance or unexpected path of life that may arise, you can see a blessing.

How we made a penny plop game

Now this is something we did to participate in a fall festival but it could also be adapted for any type of party or activity.

We used mostly things we had. We spent 2.00 on the game and that was for some little skulls and some reflective stickers that we put on our tank.

So we started with a 20 gallon empty aquarium we had for a lizard we lost over the summer.  We cleared out the habitat and scrubbed it and made sure it would hold water.

A fellow fall festival participant loaned me a sandbucket full of river rocks she had.  To the tank we added some plastic jewels my daughter had. I had some .50 cent coins my grandpa gave me(when I was a kid he passed when I was 15) ,marbles,and some Susan B Anthony coins to add to the game decor.  We also placed three glass jars inside the aquarium and filled it with water.  I also had the letters that spelled out Dream which I found as a decoration for .99 at the Salvation Army earlier this year. They were supposed to be for my daughters room but she gave up her room a few months back,said she didn't want one. To play the game each kid got five pennies and the goal is to get as many as you can into any glass jar in the tank.  Of course all participants got candy in our version!

We added around our penny plop game broken jewelry i had lying around the house along with some toys my son already owned like a skull, sword, etc.  The game was set up in our trunk. We made our own signs and flew the Christian flag...and shared Matthew 6:20 on another sign. We made them using items we already had.

My kids did dress up for the fall festival. We recycled my daughters dance costume for her and added a mask we found for 1 dollar at Dollar General.   My son put together a pirate costume by using items we already had and borrowing a couple things from a friend.  I also dressed up attempting to be a pirate using what I had but it was really hot out so my eye patch was my best accessory. We got six for .97 at Walmart from a friend who found them in the party section.

I just wanted to share another idea on how to be creative using mostly what you already have. 

(Sorry photos are out of order still adjusting to using smart phone only to post. I really miss in house Internet but we have chosen to pay for other things instead right now.)